Anywhere, U.S.A -- Today marks three years to the day since the U.S. withdrawal from the Afghanistan War where a suicide bombing killed 13 service members.
Here are their names.
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui Navy Petty Officer Third Class Maxton W. Soviak Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss
The Aug. 26, 2021 bombing at Abbey Gate outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport also killed more than 100 Afghans. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement marking the date of the Kabul airport attack, President Biden said, “These 13 Americans—and the many more that were wounded—were patriots in the highest sense. Some were born the year the war in Afghanistan started. Some were on their second or third tour. But all raised their hand to serve a cause greater than themselves—risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, Allies, and Afghan partners. They embodied the very best of who we are as a nation: brave, committed, selfless. And we owe them and their families a sacred debt we will never be able to fully repay but will never cease working to fulfill.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also released a statement, saying in part: “My prayers are with their families and loved ones. My heart breaks for their pain and their loss.”
Harris said she honors and remembers all Americans who served in Afghanistan, adding, “As I have said, President Biden made the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war. Over the past three years, our Administration has demonstrated we can still eliminate terrorists, including the leaders of al-Qaeda and ISIS, without troops deployed into combat zones,” she said. “I will never hesitate to take whatever action necessary to counter terrorist threats and protect the American people.”
Under former President Trump, the United States signed a peace agreement with the Taliban aimed at ending America’s longest war and bringing U.S. troops home. Biden later pointed to that agreement as he sought to deflect blame for the Taliban overrunning Afghanistan, saying it bound him to withdraw troops and set the stage for the chaos that engulfed the country.
A Biden administration review of the withdrawal acknowledged that the evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan should have started sooner but attributed the delays to the Afghan government and military, and to U.S. military and intelligence community assessments.
The top two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation said the administration inadequately planned for the withdrawal. The nation’s top-ranking military officer at the time, then-Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, told lawmakers earlier this year he had urged Biden to keep a residual force of 2,500 forces to give backup. Instead, Biden decided to keep a much smaller force of 650 that would be limited to securing the U.S. embassy.
Annie Gimbel
